Gardner councilor holds up police station money

A rarely used parliamentary procedure was used tonight to delay review of a request for $750,000 to help pay for a new police station.

When the request for the money was brought before the council, Councilor Edward Gravel objected.

When an objection is made, it ends discussion on an agenda item until the next council meeting. It is a tactic sometimes used to delay, or in the right circumstances, defeat a request. It has also been used by councilors to indicate unhappiness with a request.

Mr. Gravel actually objected three times. Out of enthusiasm, he objected twice before a motion was made on the request to transfer the money from free cash to help pay for the $12 million police station.

The third time was a charm and the objection took effect.

The reason for the objection, Mr. Gravel said, was because nothing has changed since the mayor earlier sent a request for the money to the council.

“Will this result in a reduction in the original ($12 million) bond if he is asking for $750,000?” he asked.

The motion, before Mr. Gravel objected, was to refer the request to the Finance Committee for study and to report back to the whole council. The request will again be before the council at its next meeting.